Saturday, November 22, 2014

Life as I Know It

For those of you who don't know me (most likely anyone reading this), I am a 32 year old father of 1 with another on the way. I've been married about a year and a half to my lovely wife, and I love my family very much.

We moved to the Pekin, IL area last January, shortly after I had my shoulder surgery (an old football injury that just got worse over the years). As a result of the move and the surgery, I had no job after the move. The distance was too far to drive for the job I had. The good thing was I got to spend a ton of time with my young daughter.

This is the point of the blog post where you are probably stating "so what," or "when are you going to get to the point of this post?" Both responses are valid. I've given you a small sample of the most recent part of my life and whether you asked for it or not, you got it.

Because of the move, the baby, the wedding, the unemployment, I've had a lot of time to think about my life lately. I love my family. That completes a few aspects of my life. But, there are other aspects of my life that I am definitely not happy with.

One of those aspects is my career. To this point, I've never worked a job that I liked. There were a few that I tolerated, but never any that fulfilled me. I love to write, but my drive to do so fluctuates. That's something I'll have to fix in order to make that a career.

I believe that everybody has a portion of their life that they aren't happy with. I think it's human nature to want to better ourselves, to drive us onward to make something of ourselves.

However, that nature can backfire on occasion. At times, being unhappy with our lot, our place in the world, can silence us to stillness, to depression, to a never ending spiral downwards. Trust me, I know. I have to fight that feeling of circling down to nothing sometimes. I've let the fall pull me into depression before.

I think a person has to take a wider view of themselves to keep the proper perspective. I am not made up of a single portion of my life. I am the combination of many different things. For example, I am a brother, a cousin, a son, a father, and a husband. I have many different connections to those that I call family. I am something different to each of those people. And that's just one small aspect of my life.

If you are a writer, you work at your craft. You try to make yourself better. Some days are better than others. The "muse," as they say, doesn't strike according to schedule, but you write anyway. Didn't do any writing today? Write tomorrow, make no excuses and do your best. Are you a musician? Perhaps song writing or singing didn't work out the way you wanted it to today. There is always tomorrow. Did you have a fight with your significant other? If you love each other the friction will pass. You will make up or decide that it wasn't meant to be.

My point is that life will move forward. Take each day as its own. There will be another day to do your best. Our lives are complex, made up of many layers and components, just as a life is made up of many days. Don't dwell on any one thing. Work on things a piece at a time, whether it is your writing, your career, or your relationship.

You owe it to yourself to take a deep look at the many pieces of who you are and take the time to work on the things that you want to improve on with patience and understanding.